Marking of ingots



y 9, 1963 M J. SCHUTTEVAER 3,096,549

MARKING 0F INGOTS Filed Jan. 25, 1960 2 s t s 1 INVENTOR JuRRumus SCHUTTE'VAERI BY v ATTORNEY July 9, 1963 J. scHuTTEvAER MARKING OF INGOTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 25, 1960 INVENTOR Jummnus ScHL/TTEVAER,

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,096,549 MARKING 0F INGOTS Jurrianus Schuttevar, Heemstede, Netherlands, assignor to Koninklijke Nederlandsche Hoogovens En Staalfabrieken N.V., Ijmuiden, Netherlands, a corporation of the Netherlands Filed Jan. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 4,489 Claims. (Cl. 22-200) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for marking ingots produced on a large scale in equal and simple regular shapes in open moulds in particular ingots cast on a pig iron casting machine.

Ingots of difierent grades, e.g. of different kinds of pig iron, are frequently cast in thesame moulds. In order to make it possible for the equally shaped ingots. to be distinguis-hed as to grade they have to be marked, because otherwise mistakes tend to be made and the ingots delivered do not satisfy the grade requirements or are of difierent grades.

It has already been proposed to mark the ingots with a colouring agent during or immediately after the casting process. Apart from the difliculty involved in marking the hot product with a colouring agent, it is found in practice that this colour tends to be lost during transport or storage.

It has therefore been proposed (see the published German patent application No. 1,006,591) to designate the grade by means of characteristics of shape. With the known method here deferred to notches are spouted or sprayed in the ingot with the aid of a jet of water at the moment when the ingot is in plastic condition. However, it is rather diflicult to determine this moment, so that the jet of water tends to be directed at the ingot either too early or too late, in consequence of which not notch is produced in the ingot.

The invention proposes a method for marking ingots which operates in a more reliable manner and nevertheless is very simple in its application and creates easily recog nizable and permanent characteristics, which are of the nature of characteristics of shape.

According to the invention the moulds are slightly slanted in relation to their horizontal main surface during solidification, in such a way that the free casting surface of the ingots slopes a little as compared with the free casting surface that would have been obtained in the normal casting process.

If in the mould two main axes are to be distinguished in the horizontal plane, the mould could be slanted about one axis or about the other, while it is also possible to use a combination of the two directions of slant. In each of these cases the slant can easily be achieved. The track for the uninterrupted series of moulds, or the support thereof need only be raised at least relatively in the solidification range or one or on both sides of this series in order to obtain the desired slant.

I-f moreover a fixed casting mark situated outside the centre is provided in the mould, it is easy to distinguish a number of grades. If the thickness of the ingot varies only in the longitudinal direction, in combination with the casting mark three grades can be marked, namely:

(1) The casting mark and the thickest end of the ingot are on the same side from the centre of the ingot.

2) The casting mark and the thickest end of the ingot are on opposite sides of the centre of the ingot.

(3) The ingot is normal, without any thick or thin end, and is only provided with the casting mark.

The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the drawing, giving preferred embodiments of the ingots according to the invention.

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the normal pig iron ingot, cast on a conveyor belt casting machine.

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FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of the ingot according to FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of an ingot like that according to FIGURE 1, but with its shape modified according to the invention.

FIGURE 4 shows another modification of the shape of the ingot.

FIGURE 5 shows a modified shape of the normal ingot according to FIGURE 1.

FIGURES 6 and 7 are end elevations of ingots of a shape modified according to the invention.

FIGURE 8 is a cross-section of a mould or casting trough in a conveyor belt for moulding ingots according to FIGURE 3 or 4.

FIGURE 9 shows diagrammatically the general set-up of the conveyor belt casting machine.

The pig iron ingot according to FIGURES l and 2 is the normal pig or brick in the shape in which pig iron is normally delivered. It has an approximately triangular cross section and an approximately trapezoidal longitudinal section. The numeral 1 denotes some casting mark, which has been provided asymmetrically in the ingot.

The ingot according to FIGURE 5 also has a normal shape. Here the casting mark has been replaced by a notch 2, which is also situated asymmetrically and is simply formed by means of a ridge made in the mould.

If the mould is slanted in the longitudinal direction during casting, ingots of the shape according to FIGURES 3 or 4 are produced. They are distinguished by the fact that the casting marks 1 are present in the thinnest or in the thickest part of the ingot, only dependent on the sense in which the mould has been slanted.

It has been found that the shapes of the ingots according to FIGURES l, 2, and 3 are easily distinguished by sight, even if the mould is slanted only slightly. A slant of 1:20 is as a rule sufficient.

The mould may also be slanted in the transverse direction. In that case ingots having the shapes according to FIGURES 6 and 7 are produced. The form of the isosceles triangle according to FIGURE 2 is then deformed to an olique triangle, the casting mark 1 being present either on the shortest or on the longest side of the triangle. These shapes of ingot are also easily distinguished by sight. However, it is to be noted that if a casting mark like 2 according to FIGURE 5 is used, the difference according to FIGURES 6 and 7 gives no additional distinction. [In that case the only difference is that between the normal cross-section according to FIGURES 6 and 7. Only two grades can then be distinguished.

However, if the casting mark 1 is present in a side wall, as shown in FIGURES l2, 6 and 7 three shapes and accordingly three grades can be distinguished.

With shapes according to FIGURES 1, 3 and 4 three grades can also be distinguished.

If the longitudinal and the transverse slant are combined, it is possible to obtain a maximum of 9 different shapes and accordingly to distinguish 9 grades. For practical purposes this number will in general be too large, so that as a rule the application of the invention will be confined to either the longitudinal or the transverse slant.

The mould or casting channel 3 is shown in FIGURE 8. -It is supported by means of trunnions 4, 5 in the links 6, 7 of a conveyor chain, which links are supported by stationary rollers 8, 9. The only thing needed is to raise the fixed supports of one of the roller systems 8 or 9 locally, as is shown in FIGURE 8, in order to obtain the slant according to FIGURES 3 or 4.

If it is desired to achieve the slant according to FIG- URE 6 or 7 (either with or without the slant shown in FIGURE '8), the moulds 3 have to be placed in the chain with a transverse slant, which can be achieved with the aid of the support in the trunnions 4 or 5 or by means of a longitudinal slant of the whole chain, so that the moulds will also take a slanting position in space.

FIGURE 9 shows diagrammatically the path of the conveyor chain 10 of the casting machine. This already has a slope under normal circumstances. In the supporting run the conveyor chain is now forced upwards over the range 1-1. If ony one of the two conveyor chains is forced upwards over this range 11, the shapes according to FIGURES 4 and 3 are produced. If they are forced upwards until the slope of the conveyor chain becomes so high that the moulds 3 begin to slope in the transverse direction, the effect according to FIGURES 6 and 7 is produced. If in this case both conveyor chains are forced upwards, the shapes produced are exclusively those according to FIGURE 1 with cross-sections according to FIGURES 6 and 7. If in this case only one of the conveyor chains is forced upwards, the shapes produced are those according to FIGURES 3 or 4 in combination with the cross-sections according to FIG- URES 6 or 7.

The slant or slope in the several cases is preferably between 5 and What I claim is:

1. A method of mass producing ingots with identifying configurations comprising the steps of: casting ingots in identical open molds designed to produce an ingot of a predetermined configuration when the molds are retained in a normal position; cooling each of the ingots in the molds in substantially the same manner; during cooling, inclining the molds with respect to their normal position into one of a number of positions each corresponding to different ingot characteristics to produce ingots of different configurations; and, after cooling, segregating the ingots according to their different characteristics in dependence upon the configurations thereof.

2. A method of mass producing ingots of different grades which are identifiable according to their different configurations, comprising the steps of (a) casting ingots of different grades in identical open molds designed to produce ingots of predetermined configuration when the molds are retained in a normal position;

(b) cooling each of the ingots in the molds in substantially the same manner;

(c) during cooling, selectively inclining each mold into one of a plurality of positions with respect to its normal position in dependence upon the grade of the ingot therein, each position corresponding to a different grade to produce ingots which deviate from the predetermined configuration in accordance with their grade; and

(d) after cooling, segregating the ingots according to grade in dependence upon the configurations thereof.

3. A method of mass producing ingots of different grades which are identifiable according to their different configurations, comprising the steps of: casting ingots of different grades in identical open molds designed to produce ingots of predetermined configuration when the molds are retained in a normal position; cooling each of the ingots in the molds in substantially the same manner to solidify same, and during solidification, maintaining each mold in one of a plurality of selectively inclined positions with respect to its normal position in dependence upon the grade of the ingot therein such that ingots of different configuration are formed, each position corresponding to a different grade to produce ingots which deviate from the predetermined configuration in accordance with their grade; and segregating the grades of ingots according to their configuration.

4. A method as defined in claim 2 wherein the molds are symmetrical and the ingots deviate by being asymmetrical.

5. A method of mass producing ingots with identifying configurations comprising the steps of: casting ingots in open molds, each mold having a portion for providing an asymmetrically disposed projection on the ingot to define a casting mark, said mold having a molding surface configuration which is symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane exclusive of said portion; uniformly cooling each of said molds While maintaining the molds inclined into one of a number of positions with respect to their normal position to produce ingots of different configurations which are asymmetrical exclusive of the projections, each inclined position being representative of a different grade of ingot; and sorting the completed ingots into grades in dependence upon their configurations.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said molding surface has the shape of an oblong channel, each mold being tilted in the direction of the length of the channel.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the said molding surface has the shape of an oblong channel, each mold being tilted in the direction of the width of said channel.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein said molding surface has the shape of an oblong channel, the transverse cross section of which is an isosceles triangle with its vertex at the bottom, and wherein said plane bisects said vertex.

9. The method of claim 5, each mold being tilted to an angle of from 5 degrees to 15 degrees from the vertical.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein said molds are arranged in a continuous, endless, uninterrupted series supported on a track, each mold being tilted by changing the height of the track at one side of the series.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Gates and Risers for Castings, Pat Dwyer, Penton Publishing Co., Cleveland, Ohio, 1942, copy in Div. 3, pages 181-182 relied upon, 

1. A METHOD OF MASS PRODUCING INGOTS WITH IDENTIFYING CONFIGURATIONS COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: CASTING INGOTS IN IDENTICAL OPEN MOLDS DESIGNED TO PRODUCE AN INGOT OF A PREDETERMINED CONFIGURATION WHEN THE MOLDS ARE RETAINED IN A NORMAL POSITION; COOLING EACH OF THE INGOTS IN THE MOLDS IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME MANNER; DURING COOLING, INCLINING THE MOLDS WITH RESPECT TO THEIR NORMAL POSITION INTO ONE OF A NUMBER OF POSITION EACH CORRESPONDING TO DIFFERENT INGOT CHARACTERISTICS TO PRODUCE INGOTS OF DIF- 